NYC artist claims latest arrest due to retaliation

A New York City artist who sued the city for $200 million last week blamed his latest arrest—his 28th in four years—on a retaliatory Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Robert Lederman said city police and park enforcement officers “violently” arrested him Tuesday as he was protesting for his right to sell his work in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“This mayor really is creating a police state where any act of political dissent, including the filing of a lawsuit for false arrest and First Amendment violations, is likely to lead to immediate and drastic police action aimed at silencing speech,” said Andrew Miltenberg, who represents Lederman and three other artists.

Miltenberg said the arrest came only hours after the city was served legal papers in the $200 million civil-rights lawsuit.

But Thomas Rozinski, chief counsel for the city's parks department, said: “We've never been served papers as far as I've been told.”

He denied that Lederman's arrest was retaliatory, noting that park enforcement officers arrest him only when he's selling his work illegally, which is nearly every day.

“This is a person who regularly violates our rules because he believes he has a First Amendment right to sell without a permit,” Rozinski said. “We require the permits because if we didn't that would turn the parks into a large flea market.”

Last week, Lederman and three other artists filed a $200 million civil-rights lawsuit against the city, Giuliani and the police and parks departments. Specifically, the lawsuit contends that a city permit policy limiting the number of vendors in front of the Met to 24 is unconstitutional. The policy went into effect March 1.

The lawsuit blames the dispute on Giuliani's “over-zealous 'quality-of-life' campaign.” City officials said the policy was needed because the high number of artists displaying their work in the vicinity of the Met blocks sidewalk traffic in front of the museum.

The lawsuit also charges the city with ignoring a 1996 ruling of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawsuit said the ruling prohibits the city from forcing street artists to obtain permits before selling their work on sidewalks because such a requirement would violate their freedom of speech.

But Rozinski said Lederman's reading of Bery v. City of New York–the court case in question–is incorrect. He said the plaintiffs won their case because the city restricted the artists without an official permit program.

Now, the city offers as many as 75 permits for artists–24 in front of the museum–renewable monthly at $25 each. Rozinski said if the city receives more applications than permits, it distributes them based on a lottery.

“This is a system that is not only used in San Francisco to great effect, but it is also the one the ACLU recommended in their briefs in Bery that we use,” Rozinski said.

He said more than 85 percent of those applying for permits received them. In recent months, every artist who applied for a spot before the Met got one. In March, only 14 artists applied for the 24 spots in front of the Met.

“If we get more applications than 24 we might be willing to expand the number to 30. But right now, the numbers don't justify that.”

Rozinski said park officials don't immediately arrest artists who violate the permit system. He said they usually offer numerous warnings before handing out any summons.

“We are trying to be very accommodating here, but Mr. Lederman thinks his best method of protest is to get arrested everyday.”

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THE EXPERTS

The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, also is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, a center of the institute. He is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.

John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.

About The First Amendment Center

We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.

The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.

Founded by John Seigenthaler, the First Amendment Center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The center’s website, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues. Support the work of the First Amendment Center.

1 For All

1 for All is a national nonpartisan program designed to build understanding and support for First Amendment freedoms. 1 for All provides teaching materials to the nation’s schools, supports educational events on America’s campuses and reminds the public that the First Amendment serves everyone, regardless of faith, race, gender or political leanings. It is truly one amendment for all. Visit 1 for All at http://1forall.us/

Help tomorrow’s citizens find their voice: Teach the First Amendment

The most basic liberties guaranteed to Americans – embodied in the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – assure Americans a government that is responsible to its citizens and responsive to their wishes.

These 45 words are as alive and important today as they were more than 200 years ago. These liberties are neither liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican – they are the basis for our representative democratic form of government.

We know from studies beginning in 1997 by the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, and from studies commissioned by the Knight Foundation and others, that few adult Americans or high school students can name the individual five freedoms that make up the First Amendment.

The lesson plans – drawn from materials prepared by the Newseum and the First Amendment Center – will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today’s world. Students will discuss just how far individual rights extend, examining rights in the school environment and public places. The lessons may be used in history and government, civics, language arts and journalism, art and debate classes. They may be used in sections or in their entirety. Many of these lesson plans indicate an overall goal, offer suggestions on how to teach the lesson and list additional resources and enrichment activities.

First Amendment Moot Court Competition

This site no longer is being updated … And the competition itself is moving to Washington, D.C., where the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center is co-sponsoring the “Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition,” March 18-19, in partnership with the Columbus School of Law, of the Catholic University of America.

During the two-day competition in February, each team will participate in a minimum of four rounds, arguing a hypothetical based on a current First Amendment controversy before panels of accomplished jurists, legal scholars and attorneys.

FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER ARCHIVES

State of the First Amendment survey reports

The State of the First Amendment surveys, commissioned since 1997 by the First Amendment Center and Newseum, are a regular check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

The periodic surveys examine public attitudes toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and petition; and sample public opinion on contemporary issues involving those freedoms.
See the reports.